Medicare Part D, the federal government's new prescription drug plan, has forever changed the way Roxanne Marek and her pharmacist, Bruce Scheinson, do business together.

For the past five years, Marek, of Medford, has gone to the drug store Scheinson co-owns, Centereach Pharmacy and Surgical, to get her prescriptions filled. She likes the accommodating atmosphere there and even calls the place "Cheers," after the friendly bar from the TV show. It's where she has picked up her 30 prescriptions for various ailments, including chronic back pain, lupus and depression.

That all changed on Jan. 1, when the government automatically enrolled her in a new, privately run drug plan. The new plan said she had to switch three of her drugs, won't cover two more and charged her a co-pay of $91.50 for another prescription. But the bigger problem for her are all the new co-pays. Although most are just $1 to $3 each, Marek lives on just $710 a month from Supplemental Security Income payments. Stretched thin by the drug costs, last month she passed on paying her electric bill and isn't sure she can afford the insurance for her car.

Scheinson has problems of his own under Medicare Part D, which was intended to give more seniors drug coverage. He said he has lost more than $50,000 since Jan. 1 because of lower reimbursements under Part D or from co-pays he waived initially because many of his patients, like Marek, couldn't afford them. And he spends far more hours then ever on the phone negotiating with the drug providers. One recent Monday morning, he was trying to help a disabled patient obtain a long-prescribed drug that was no longer covered by the man's new plan.

"This is not a discussion of health," he said as the clock showed he had been on hold 27 minutes. "This is just trying to get a prescription filled to put in his hand."

27 minutes. Time he could have counseled at least one more patient, a patient that could have benefited from his attention more than Musak, or filled countless prescriptions.

Does anyone remember the Bush administration's solution to homelessness and unemployment? Train the homeless in how to use the Internet in a public library to search for a job. This whole Medicare Part D reeks of that cynicism and vulgarianism. It's cheap, it's easy, it's government controlled under the guise of choice and worse, the government control doesn't institute enough oversight to ensure patients can have their medication continuously, or make it affordable for them!

There was a time, not too long ago, when senior citizens were the single largest element of the poverty class in America.

Then came Social Security. And then Medicare. And the elderly started to live longer and even live healthier, contributing to society in ways no one had dreamed of previously.

The Republicans seem determined to commit ageist genocide in America. They've allowed the rape of pension plans (Delta's pilots are finding that out now), cut Social Security, are dismantling Medicare, and why?

All because they're corporate buddies can't afford a good tee time at Black Rock, because they actually have to *work* on a weekday to make a little bit more money.

Sad. Very very sad. What's worse, the vast majority of Americans have no clue how bad things are, not just at the societal level, but at the personal level. If you don't have at least $100,000 in an IRA by the time you're 50, you're basically screwed. Even 401(k)s, we've seen, are no bulwark against profound poverty. Just ask any Enron reitiree. Or now, GM.

Thursday, March 16, 2006

Now that Vancouver is to host the 2010 Winter Olympics these are some questions people the world over are asking.

Q: I have never seen it warm on Canadian TV, so how do the plants grow?(UK)A: We import all plants fully grown and then just sit around and watch them die.

Q: Will I be able to see Polar Bears in the street? (USA)A: Depends on how much you've been drinking.

Q:I want to walk from Vancouver to Toronto-can I follow the Railroad tracks? (Sweden)A: Sure, it's only Four thousand miles, take lots of water.

Q: Is it safe to run around in the bushes in Canada? (Sweden)A: So it's true what they say about Swedes.

Q: It is imperative that I find the names and addresses of places to Contact for a stuffed Beaver. (Italy)A: Let's not touch this one.

Q: Are there any ATM's(cash machines) in Canada? Can you send me a list of them in Toronto, Vancouver, Edmonton and Halifax? (UK)A: What did your last slave die of?

Q: Can you give me some information about hippo racing in Canada? (USA)A: A-fri-ca is the big triangle shaped continent south of Europe. Ca-na-da is that big country to your North...oh forget it. Sure, the hippo racing is every Tuesday night in Calgary. Come naked.

Q: Which direction is North in Canada? (USA)A: Face south and then turn 180 degrees. Contact us when you get here and we will send the rest of the directions.

Q: Can I bring cutlery into Canada? (UK)A: Why? Just use your fingers like we do.

Q: Can you send me the Vienna Boys' Choir schedule? (USA)A: Aus-tri-a is that quaint little country bordering Ger-man-y, Which is...oh forget it. Sure, the Vienna Boys Choir plays every Tuesday night in Vancouver and in Calgary, straight after the hippo races. Come naked.

Q: Do you have perfume in Canada? (Germany)A: No, WE don't stink.

Q: I have developed a new product that is the fountain of youth. Can you sell it in Canada? (USA)A: Anywhere significant numbers of Americans gather.

Q: Can you tell me the regions in British Columbia where the female population is smaller than the male population? (Italy)A: Yes, gay nightclubs.

Q: Are there supermarkets in Toronto and is milk available all year round?(Germany)A: No, we are a peaceful civilization of Vegan hunter/gatherers. Milk is illegal.

Q: I have a question about a famous animal in Canada, but I forget its name. It's a kind of big horse with horns. (USA)A: It's called a Moose. They are tall and very violent, eating the brains of anyone walking close to them. You can scare them off by spraying yourself with human urine before you go out walking.

WASHINGTON -- President Bush said Thursday Iran may pose the greatest challenge to the United States and diplomacy to thwart the Islamic nation's nuclear program must prevail to avoid confrontation.

In a 49-page national security report, the president reaffirmed the strike-first, or pre-emptive policy he first outlined in 2002. Diplomacy is the U.S. preference in halting the spread of nuclear and other heinous weapons, Bush said.

He missed the first lesson: Never let your attacker know you're going to attack first. In fact, it's best if he doesn't even know you at all! Sneak up on him, preferably when you're both drunk...you remember that feeling, dontcha, Georgie?...and bash him over the head with a bottle then run like hell.

It's basically the "Shock and Awe" strategy taken to its logical conclusion, or concussion, as the case may be. Hit him with overwhelming firepower before he's had the chance to mount any serious acknowledgement that you're about to attack him. Before he's even seen you crouching in the brush. Before he's even smelled the "whuskey" on your breath or see the empty Jameson's bottle in your hand.

Go on, George. You might as well cement your place in hisotry as the world's biggest bully.

Wednesday, March 15, 2006

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Negotiations between the developer of the World Trade Center site and New York officials broke off on Wednesday after the sides missed a deadline to resolve who would construct which buildings at Ground Zero.The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey owns the site where the Twin Towers were attacked and destroyed on September 11, 2001. Real estate developer Larry Silverstein of Silverstein Properties holds a 99-year lease that was signed two months before the attacks.

New York Gov. George Pataki set a March 14 deadline for the two parties to reach an agreement on how to expedite the rebuilding.

Bud Perrone, a spokesman for Silverstein, said the Port Authority made the move to suspend the talks, which had continued after a midnight deadline.

"This temporary setback can and must be overcome," Perrone said in a statement, adding Silverstein was ready to resume talks. "We believe we can quickly finalize an agreement that will assure a speedy rebuilding of the World Trade Center."

Representatives from the Port Authority and Pataki's office could not immediately be reached for comment. Perrone would not comment on what differences remained or what steps the parties may take going forward.

A deal is crucial to Silverstein obtaining low-cost financing, in the form of Liberty Bonds, which he needs to rebuild. Silverstein has asked for $3.4 billion in the tax-exempt bonds, half from the state and half from the city.

OK, let's fill in the details a little here for my many out of town readers:

Two months before the 9-11 attacks, the lease to operate the Word Trade Center seven buildings was sold to Larry Silverstein, who, in NYC real estate circles, is considered something of a mensch. When you consider that his competition includes Leona Helmsley and Donald Trump, to call him a mensch is damning with faint praise: it means his fingers aren't as short as everyone else's and he's not quite as vulgar.

September 11 did not remove his lease obligation, which is $10 million a month. He won a judgement, now in appeals, for $4.3 billion dollars from his insurers for the damage to the buildings and site cause by the plane and the collapse of the two main towers. $4.3 billion would only pay for about 35 years of mandatory rent, so it's incumbent upon Silverstein to rebuild at the site.

The total estimated cost to carry out the current design for all buildings on the site is $7.3 billion, which explains the need for the Liberty Bonds proceeds. The Port Authority has offered to take over construction of the Freedom Tower (the centerpiece building...the PA has the wherewithal to do this type of construction as it built the original Twin Towers.) in exchange for $2.9 billion of the insurance settlement. The Freedom Tower is estimated to cost $2.3 billion, but the Port Authority acknowledges they would still need to finance surrounding construction in order to keep the Freedom Tower on plan.

Meaning Silverstein would still have about $5 billion to do the rest of the site, something should be sufficient, given that the infrastructure costs have already been borne in part by the Port Authority and Federal Government (laughingly, I had to add their pittance in) as the site walls needed shoring up in order to accomodate the two subways that run into the site as well as the proposed transit hub.

Another hiccup is that Silverstein wants strictly commercial construction, but Mayor Michael Bloomberg has asked that he set aside 14% of the project for housing, including moderate income housing, and a hotel to replace the mourned Vista.

Silverstein's estimates are that he would need to have about 10 million square feet of commercial space in order to turn a profit on the project. Obviously, he'd have to adjust his plans upward to account for the lower rent per square foot of housing and hotel space, let's say he'd need to add another 500,000 square feet of commercial space to do it.

Not impossible, so one wonders why he's fighting the Port Authority so hard on this, particularly considering the two states involved, New York and New Jersey, and the Port Authority, believe he does not have sufficient funding to do the deal. Plus, he's not the smartest man in the room in this instance. That honor would clearly go to Mayor Bloomberg.

The loser in all this is clear: George Pataki. People associate this image with him...

Mingling his state campaign themes with his official goals, Nassau County Executive Thomas Suozzi declared last night that, whether or not he is elected governor, he will work to lighten the state's "crushing burden of high property taxes."

Suozzi made the pledge in his fifth State of the County address -- his last if he achieves his dream at the polls.

Errrrr....um, Tom?

Didn't you just raise property taxes in Nassau County by 19% within the past three years? Aren't Nassau County's property and sales taxes the highest in the state? Don't they rank in the top ten in the country?

And isn't the Nassau County administrator's office the FIRST and ONLY place that property and sales taxes can be imposed? Who's running your campaign? A bunch of amnesiacs?

Dark times for rock royalsAt the Hall of Fame induction, the Sex Pistols don’t show and Blondie has an on stage blowup

BY RAFER GUZMANSTAFF WRITER

March 14, 2006

A bunch of no-show punks and a few thank-you speeches fraught with bitterness were the highlights of last night's induction ceremony into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum.

As the musicians in the iconic new-wave band Blondie accepted their awards, tensions boiled over on stage with one former band member begging singer Debbie Harry to be allowed to play after the induction.

When former bassist Frank Infante stood at the podium and asked Harry if he and another former bassist, Nigel Harrison, could play, Harry responded coldly, "Can't you see my band is already up there?"

If rock music is about chaos and unpredictability, the rock hall couldn't have found a better class of inductees this year. Among them were the Southern rock group Lynyrd Skynyrd, pioneers The Sex Pistols, the once-frightening heavy metal band Black Sabbath and the contrarian jazz trumpeter Miles Davis.

But Yes and ELP had artistry (pretention as well). Toto was a blatant "suit band". Great studio musicians. Marvelous session men. Sucked as a band, eventually.

So the Rock And Roll Hall of Fame, while attractive to me, also repels me. See, it's fun to browse the history of rock, and the early forms-- OK, ripoffs-- of rock-inspiring blues, but the Hall quickly loses attraction for me when I see these monster exhibits that were imported directly from the Hard Rock Cafe, which at least has the decency to sell me food while gagging me with marketing.

To see Blondie, a sell-out band when it first hit the stage back in the 70s, argue like this over a stupid induction ceremony into a "Hall of Fame" is to confirm in my mind that music hasn't been the same since Colonel Parker promoted Elvis to Ed Sullivan.

Sadder still is to read this paragraph:

The Sex Pistols, even in their absence, conveyed their hostility toward the rock hall. Rolling Stone founder Jann Wenner inducted the band by reading out the group's nasty note, tortured grammar and all. "That Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is a ---- stain," Wenner read as the crowd laughed and applauded. "We're not coming."

(emphasis added)

Yea. I get the joke. It's on me. It's been on me since the days I hung out at Max's Kansas City and CBGB. I didn't get it when Johnny Rotten performed behind a screen. Now I do.

Sitting together on a train, traveling through the Canadian Rockies were an American guy, a Canadian guy, a little old Greek lady, and a young blonde girl with large breasts.

The train goes into a dark tunnel and a few seconds later there is the sound of a loud slap. When the train emerges from the tunnel, the American has a bright red hand print on his cheek. No one speaks.

The old Greek lady thinks: The American guy must have groped the blonde in the dark and she slapped his cheek.

The blonde girl thinks: That American guy must have tried to grope me in the dark, but missed and fondled the old lady and she slapped his cheek.

The American thinks: The Canadian guy must have groped the blonde in the dark. She tried to slap him but missed and got me instead.

The Canadian thinks: I can't wait for another tunnel, just so I can smack the American again.

Monday, March 13, 2006

YANGON, Myanmar -- Myanmar reported its first case of the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu, and there was a high risk poultry in Afghanistan were also infected, officials said Monday, a day after the virus gained new ground in Europe and Africa.

Lab tests confirmed the outbreak in northern Myanmar after 112 chickens died, said Laurence Gleeson, a senior official at the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization, citing a report from the Myanmar government.

[....]New cases were also reported Sunday in Poland and Greece -- two countries already touched by bird flu -- in the latest signs of the disease's expanding range.

In Afghanistan, meanwhile, the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization said that an H5 subtype of bird flu was found in poultry samples in Kabul and Jalalabad, and that there was a "high risk" further tests could prove the samples to be the H5N1 strain.

March 13, 2006 — In a remarkable speech over the weekend, Secretary of Health and Human Services Michael Leavitt recommended that Americans start storing canned tuna and powdered milk under their beds as the prospect of a deadly bird flu outbreak approaches the United States.

Ready or not, here it comes.

It is being spread much faster than first predicted from one wild flock of birds to another, an airborne delivery system that no government can stop.

"There's no way you can protect the United States by building a big cage around it and preventing wild birds from flying in and out," U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Michael Johanns said.

U.S. spy satellites are tracking the infected flocks, which started in Asia and are now heading north to Siberia and Alaska, where they will soon mingle with flocks from the North American flyways.

Hm, maybe Bush ought to start wiretapping birds' cell phones? For all the effectiveness of his domestic spying program, he'd do better by banning all birds from flying into US airspace.

He could send F-18s after migratory geese, or a few Apache helicopters after some starlings. And look out for them sparrows, those guys are nasty little terrorists, believe me, my car's hood can attest to that!

Gallows humour, to be sure, because this epidemic is going to be a lot worse than we're prepared for.

To all of you who voted for me (and to all of you who voted for someone else but came over here and had the guts to admit you did, whether you realized I was in the hunt or not), thank you.

I've scanned the threads (I swear, running a blog is a little like owning stocks; you can't help but keep track of things!), and I'm fairly sure I won't land in the finals of either category, but I look at it this way: there are millions of blogs in America, probably 100,000 that deal with politics, and likely half of those deal with left-wing politics.

100 or so, about 0.1%, were named. I was among them. My thanks to you who nominated me (I scrupulously did not name my own blog, altho I did cheapen things by voting for it,) which included Miss Cellania, who really deserved her own nomination, but she doesn't blog enough politics to qualify.

I ran up a couple dozen votes based on the responses here. To you, my thanks for putting up with my (as KEvron noted) shameless self-promotion (and KEv deserves a nom in 2006, so make a note of that.)

My thanks to the blogs who link to this site, all of whom I try to visit as regularly as a spastic colon. I'm thrilled that many of them recognize me in their blogrolls alongside such important blogs as Atrios and DailyKos (who don't require yet ANOTHER link to their sites! :D)

And finally, and most important, my thanks to my readers, without whom...well, I'd still write this crap, but it wouldn't be nearly as much fun!

I see that Jon Stewart is in the wings and the orchestra is tuning up, so let me thankmymom,mydaughter,andmostlofallGodwithoutwhomallthings,mygamewinningtouchdown,andthishonorwouldnotbepossible, peace out y'all!

(P.S. I would have posted this yesterday as a blatant last minute attempt to secure a few more votes but I was on my back (NO! Not earning tip money to keep this blog going!) and couldn't get up to sit and blog)

Sunday, March 12, 2006

I don't figure to win, but I hope to make it past the first round. I think for a blog that's only been in existence for five months, that would be a feather in my cap. Please vote. Please? Pretty please?

"Liberals got women the right to vote. Liberals got African-Americans the right to vote. Liberals created Social Security and lifted millions of elderly people out of poverty. Liberals ended segregation. Liberals passed the Civil Rights Act, the Voting Rights Act. Liberals created Medicare. Liberals passed the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act. What did Conservatives do? They opposed them on every one of those things...every one! So when you try to hurl that label at my feet, 'Liberal,' as if it were something to be ashamed of, something dirty, something to run away from, it won't work, Senator, because I will pick up that label and I will wear it as a badge of honor." -- Matt Santos, The West Wing